Bald Eagles

Bald Eagles are not quite as common as starlings or Canada Geese, but they are turning up all over the Twin Cities. Driving across the Mississippi River on 35E every day, I often see an Eagle or two soaring overhead. There's also a regular pair that spend each year their spacious nest near the southwest corner of Highways 36 and 61. [North end Keller Lake. Birder etiquette states that one should not publish nesting sites, but when a pair have been as open and notorious as these two - for several years - and an are often seen looking down on the hundreds of cars passing on the highway, they can hardly be said to be nesting in secret.]

The latest news in the birder world is the pair of Bald Eagles setting up house in South Minneapolis, near Lake Nokomis - actually in a residential neighborhood behind the old 5-8 Club (great burgers I hear!). Birdchick Blog has all the details. It's probably a great location - if not for the low flying airplanes - they are probably one-quarter mile off the end of a runway at MSP - almost directly under a flight path. The new Eagle nest is near several nice fish sources: about 1/4 mile from Lake Nokomis (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and about1 mile from the Minnehaha Creek, and 2 miles from the Mississippi River. The area also borders some park-land (Airport property I believe), as well as a pretty densely populated neighborhood. Very interesting.